November 30, 2005

No matter what other good things happen to me today, nothing can beat the fact that I took my last dose of antibiotics yesterday. At the risk of sounding like a big whiner, they were HORRIBLE. They created an almost intolerable bitter taste in my mouth that started when I took them at lunchtime and intensified from there. If I weren't already inured to strong, bitter coffee, I don't know if I could have stood it.

But now I'm free! Free of the giant, yellow tablets of awfulness. Free of the earache and cough that they cured. Not completely free of the bitter taste, but I'm sure it will subside shortly.

November 29, 2005

Did I hurl myself into the crowds to tussle for cheap electronics on "Black Friday"? Absolutely not. Did I spend the day yesterday, "Black Monday," ordering online bargains? No again.

While I was in Florida with all my relatives, we agreed that this year we would only buy Christmas gifts for the children. Everybody is equally broke right now, so I think it will come as a relief for us all.

That means I only need a baby boy gift (probably clothes) and a 5-year-old girl gift. Oh, and I should probably get something for my 21-year-old cousin since he's a poor college student.

We'll still get together for a lovely meal, cookies and good company. That's the best part of the holiday anyway.

November 28, 2005

It was 68 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday and I spent the entire afternoon outdoors doing pre-winter chores: putting up our Christmas lights, cleaning the gutters, cleaning out the driveway gutter, and putting away the barbecue grill and deck furniture. I also replaced my car's windshield wiper blades, repaired one of our toilets and bought a carload of groceries.

By the time I finally showered and fixed supper, I was a huge bundle of sore muscles. It would have been delightful to just veg on the couch in front of the TV for the rest of the evening, but my husband convinced me to go with him and a buddy to see a performance of Handel's "Messiah."

I agreed, with vague thoughts about kicking off the holiday season, etc. In retrospect, I really should have thought it through more carefully.

The performance was held at the most enormous church I've ever seen. The lobby and hallway reminded me of an airport. Its auditorium was not exactly acoustically appropriate for a symphony orchestra and chorus; I would have liked the music to be about twice as loud as it was.

I did my best not to fidget through the first third of the performance, but the seats were uncomfortable, the pain in my left shoulder blade kept intensifying, and, frankly, the music was boring the snot out of me. When intermission came, I said to my husband, "Whew, halfway through!"

The man sitting next to me on the other side said, "I'm afraid not - there are three sections."

We went to the lobby, hoping to run into the person who had driven us there and talk him into leaving early. He never appeared, but we couldn't face the thought of sitting in the torture seats again, so we sat on comfortable couches and watched the rest of the performance on a TV monitor.

While we waited for the Hallelujah Chorus (the one "hit" of the whole piece, as far as we were concerned) we discussed more than a dozen other classical composers whose work we actually would have enjoyed. We obviously felt some need to establish our mutual classical music appreciation cred, but I think it was unspoken that we'd both have enjoyed a rock concert - any rock concert - even better still.

So that's my recent experience with the cod liver oil of culture: it might be good for you, but it's not necessarily pleasant!

November 25, 2005

Yesterday my husband and I woke up with the whole day stretching before us and no plans except for our restaurant dinner. After a leisurely breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels (I didn't have any breakfast food in the house), we returned home and decided to watch two concert DVDs that my guitarist had loaned me.

We started with "The Who Live at Royal Albert Hall." The band was great, as were the many musical guests including Eddie Vedder, Bryan Adams and Noel Gallagher.

Once that show ended, we went and had our Thanksgiving buffet dinner, which was delicious and hassle-free.

When we returned home, we watched "Judas Priest Live," the same concert I'd watched on my laptop the previous weekend. I hadn't gotten to see all the encores on the plane, so it was satisfying to watch it to the end. It made me realize that I'm singing some wrong lyrics on "Hell Bent for Leather," and I printed out the correct ones so I can remedy that from here on out.

After that DVD, we peeled ourselves off the couch and went to feed my friend's cat. When we returned, I baked two pumpkin pies and we settled in for one last batch of concert footage: disk 2 of the Led Zeppelin DVD released a couple of years ago.

I didn't make it through the whole DVD - the antibiotics I'm taking give me a headache and I had to bail out and go to bed around 9:45. Still, I had a great time spending the day watching three bands I like. I studied all the frontmen very closely for gestures and postures that I might be able to incorporate into my own live performances.

November 24, 2005

Yesterday I went to the doctor about my throat cooties and learned that I have something in common with Ashlee Simpson besides a propensity for dramatic hair color changes. Yes, my throat weirdness was caused by acid reflux. (Although I would like to point out that at no time did it affect my singing voice to an extent that would lead me to consider lip-synching. I'm just saying...)

So it's back on prescription acid-quelling medication for me. I don't know how I managed to overlook persistent, daily heartburn until it started taking a toll on my throat, but I guess I just got used to it. Sometimes common sense has its limits, I suppose.

As a special bonus, I was also diagnosed with an upper respiratory and ear infection that I blame on last weekend's air travel. The weird thing is that I didn't really feel all that bad.

Since today's a holiday, I got to sleep until it was light outside. What a treat! That'll probably help me as much as all of the meds.

The plan today is to grab a relatively modest breakfast when my husband finally gets up so we'll be ready for a mid-afternoon Thanksgiving dinner. In between, I'll probably put up the Christmas lights on our house, and we've also discussed taking in a movie.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving (or for those of you outside the U.S., your Thursday).

My husband and I (and probably a few friends) are planning to pig out at a chain buffet restaurant. $10 bucks a person for an all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving feast vs. hours of slaving over a hot stove that trips the breaker every time I turn on more than two burners. Hmmm...decisions, decisions...

Yes, we've gone the buffet route numerous times and we've never regretted it. If we end up with an unsatisfactory meal early in the day, there's nothing stopping us from finding another restaurant and trying again at suppertime. We can't lose!

November 22, 2005

Last night I got caught up on the shows that the TiVo recorded for me while I was gone. Veronica Mars was good, but Rome was even better. I know, I said I was giving up on "Rome" a long time ago. I lied.

I actually had an episode and a half of "Rome" left to watch, so that was an extra treat. I would never have imagined that Titus Pullo would live to the end. I did appreciate that "Et tu, Brute," was implied rather than spoken.

What else is on my TiVo Season Pass list now that "Rome" is over?

Everybody Hates Chris

My Name is Earl

The Office

Two and a Half Men

Lost

Veronica Mars (on Saturday, since it's on at the same time as "Lost" on Wednesday)

That's really about it. I'm looking forward to "Deadwood" coming back to HBO, but I'll probably catch the next season on DVD rather than pay $11 a month for premium cable.

I think the DVD route is a great alternative these days. I'm always hearing about good shows that I wouldn't have time to watch during the regular season, even with the TiVo time delay. What better way to spend a snowy weekend than to watch a whole series year in a row?

November 21, 2005

As much as I like visiting different places, it's getting to the point where it's so much trouble to fly somewhere that it almost isn't worth it. The travel watchword for this weekend: delays. On Friday, my sister, my cousin and I were late getting into our connecting city on the first leg, then sat on the plane forever before it took off, and ended up getting into Orlando, Florida more than an hour later than we were supposed to.

Yesterday, on the way back, we sat on the first plane for almost an hour before takeoff for some kind of repair, thus making it to the connection city with about five minutes left before our next flight took off. We RAN through the airport and, fortunately, they were waiting for us. I really thought we might miss our connecting flight the way my husband and I did last December, but we lucked out.

Adding to our distress was the fact that Northwest Airlines (or as they now call themselves, NWA - anybody else wish they'd been a fly on the wall during the meeting where they decided that?) is in the midst of bankruptcy reorganization and one of their cost cutbacks is to charge for all snacks. That's right, we were on airplanes for pretty much the entire day with nothing to eat. The Florida Turnpike tolls had taken the last of our cash on the way to the airport, so we had to listen to music to drown out the sounds of our growling stomachs.

The experience wasn't all bad. I watched almost all of a 1993 1982 Judas Priest concert DVD on my laptop on the first leg of the flight, and my sister and I watched most of "Office Space" on the second leg. The rest of the time I listened to my iPod in preparation for my lyric writing later this week.

I'm still processing the weekend in my own mind and I may or may not write more about it later. The one thing I came away with, though, is an even deeper awareness of how horrible Alzheimer's disease is. The next time I have some extra money to donate to charity, I'll probably send it to the Alzheimer's Association or a similar group.

November 18, 2005

Since I'm leaving for the airport in less than two hours, I was planning to lift the "20 Random Things About Me" meme from Cagey rather than try to think of a post topic on my own. As it turns out, I'm too fried this morning (pre-coffee, you know) to think of a single thing about myself that I haven't already mentioned in this blog before.

Instead, I'll set about gathering the stuff I need for the trip (iPod Shuffle, iBook, DVDs, earbuds) and the stuff that it would be nice to have (clothing, toiletries, shoes). Maybe those lists are switched around. Maybe not.

November 17, 2005

I don't know how it took me so long to realize this, but I'm working on some sort of throat-oriented illness. For the last week or so, I've been aware of a weird feeling in the back of my throat when I swallow, but it wasn't until yesterday that I finally looked in the mirror to see what it might be.

Ewww! Red spots all over the back of my tongue! My throat doesn't exactly hurt, but I can sense the potential. I have no idea what it might be. Strep, maybe? Whatever it is, I'm not looking forward to dealing with it over the course of two plane rides within three days.

The kicker is that my doctor's office can't get me in before I leave town for my grandmother's funeral. I suppose I can always go to an Urgent Care clinic tonight if I think it's necessary. Unfortunately, that'll be a little tough to squeeze into my schedule with my cousin spending the night tonight so he can travel with me and my sister to Florida on Friday morning.

I know there's never a good time to be sick, but does it HAVE to be right now?